Macbeth, McDuff, and Portia streets were all born on 1888’s Golden West Heights tract. It sure seems likely that characters from Shakespeare plays inspired their names: Macbeth and Macduff (note correct spelling) from The Tragedy of Macbeth and Portia from The Merchant of Venice. But note that the tract’s other four streets weren’t Shakespearian at all: Fremont, Waters, Elysian, and Golden West (since renamed Sutherland, Quintero, Douglas, and Galveston, respectively). Golden West Heights was owned by John S. Maltman, Ozro W. Childs, and Oliver A. Ivers. Like Macbeth, Maltman hailed from Scotland, and he did get a degree in literature in 1870 before obtaining his law degree. He was also an owner of the tract that gave us Virgil Avenue, another probable literary reference. Beyond that, there’s no proof that he named these streets and no hint as to why these three characters in particular were singled out – or why someone thought Macduff’s name was “McDuff”.
Find it on the map:
